Fabric making machine



May 19, 1942. c. H. GINGHER FABRIC MAKING MACHINE Filed Sept. 20, 1941 5Sheets-Sheet 1 I I a E May 19, 1942. c. H. GINGHER FABRIC MAKING MACHINEFiled Sept. 20, 1941 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 May 19, 1942.

c. H. GINGHER FABRIC MAKING MACHINE 5 Sheets-Sheet 4 Filed Sept. 20,1941 um an l JUI 'IHHL I Va-II v/ I in! g W11: "a; LHII lggn mm mlllhlssii May 19, 1942. c. HqGINGHER FABRIC MAKING MACHINE 5 SheetsSheet- 5Filed Sgpt. 20, 1941 Patented May 19, 1942 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICEClaims.

This invention relates to cloth making apparatus characterized by theabsence of a shed.

One of the objects of the invention is the method of producing a clothhaving a primary warp with upper and lower wefts laid against the warpon opposite sides, the upper and lowerwarp being tied together betweenthe threads of the primary warp by a secondary warp produced by sewingneedles and which enmeshes the fills of the respective wefts, drawingthem more or less tightly together according to the te-nsion'of thesewing threads.

Another object of the invention is a fabric, the product of the abovemethod, characterized by its being nonstretchable and nonshrinkable in awarpwise direction when made with inelastic warp yarns, through the factthat the primary warp yarns extend rectilinearly through the fabricwithout the undulations incident to interweaving, said fabric being morefreely stretchable than woven fabric in the event that the primary warpis'made of elastic yarns, since the warp yarns pass freely through thefabric Without the localized constrictions produced by the interweavingof the filling. The fabric of the subject invention is furthercharacterized by the fact that after having been distorted biaswise inone direction, it may readily be restored to its original condition bybeing pulled lengthwise in the opposite bias direction, this being dueto the fact that the upper and lower filling threads have free turningpoints on the primary warp yarns to which they are unattached. Thisgives the fabric a nonwrinkling quality. By the selection of sewingthreads of different gauge, working at different tensions, variousqualities in the nature of the fabric are readily produced. Forinstance, if the sewing thread is fine and stitched under considerabletension the secondary warp will be com pletely buried in the fabric andthe surface char acteristics will be solely those incident to the nature of the wefts. Furthermore, the fact that the wefts and the primarywarp yarns are not tied togethergives the fabric a natural soft and limpnature which adapts it especially for draperies. v

Another object of the invention is the provi sion of apparatus formanufacturing fabric of the character described.

Other objects of the invention will appear as the following descriptionof a preferred and practical embodiment thereof proceeds.

In the drawings which accompany and form a part of the followingspecification and throughout the several figures of which the samecharacr ters of reference have been employed to designate identicalparts:

Figure 1 is a view in side elevation of apparatus embodying theprinciples of the invention;

Figure 2 is a side sectional view of part of the apparatus including theupper weft feeder, upper weft gathering conveyor and upper weftcondensing conveyor; 7

Figur 3 is a section taken along the line 3-3 of Figure 2;

Figure 4 is a section taken along the lin .4-4 of Figure 2;

Figure 5 is a vertical side sectional view of the apparatus, parts beingomitted;

Figure 6 is a vertical section taken along the line 6-6 of Figure 5; 1

Figure 7 is a horizontal section taken along the line 11 of Figure 5;

Figure 8 is a diagrammatic plan view showing the weft laid about thepins of the chains of the gathering conveyor; Figure 9 is a diagrammaticplan view illustrating the upwardly convex position assumed by the"transverse portions of the upper weft where unsupported, on theanterior. portion of the gathering conveyor;

Figure 10 is a perspective view showing the structure of the fabric.

Before proceeding with a, detailed description of the apparatus, it maybe said that the general method employed isto provide a continuouslylongitudinally moving primary warp comprising a plurality of parallelyarns, continuously laying a sinuous upper weft and a sinuous lower wefthaving parallel transverse portions respectively on upper and lowermoving supports which continuously bring the wefts towards oppositesides of the warp. For practical reasons it is necessary to lay theconvolutions of the wefts farther apart than they will be in thefinished fabric, so that the method includes the transfer of the weftsfrom the moving supports to slower moving c'onveyors which condense thetransverse portions, bringing them together into the positions ofadjacency which they will occupy in the fabric.

The condensing conveyors bring the wefts against the opposite sides ofthe primary warp and, traveling at the speed of the primary-warp,

they hold the wefts in place against the warp un-' The primary warpReferring now in detail to the several figures, the warp I is derivedfrom the cops 2 carried by the cop rack 3 shown in Figure 1.

The warp threads pass over the warp beam 4, but at this point the warpis diverted into two parts 5 and v6, the upper part 5 passingrectilinearly through the apparatus, while the lower part 6 consisting,let us say, of alternate warp threads is diverted downwardly, passingabout the roll I and then upwardly, joining the rest of the warp at theregion a. From this point the entire warp travels in the direction ofthe arrows, Figure 5, toward the cloth beam'8. The necessity ofdiverting the lower part of the warp will presently be explained. Thewarp I is referred to as the primary warp to distinguish it from asecondary stitched warp, which is later incorporated into the fabric.

The upper weft The upper weft or filling comes from acop 9 on the copframe 3, and passes with suitable tension through the eye of an upperweft feed needle III which has a compound oscillating movement, as willappear.

This needle oscillates trans 'ersely in a plane perpendicular to the bedof the upper weft gathering conveyor. This gathering conveyor II in itsanterior portion, as shown in Figures 2 and 3, comprises a pair ofparallel chains I2 spaced apart a distance slightly greater than thewidth of the warp and each carrying a series of pairs of pivoted pinsI3, weighted so that normally they swing down to a position below theupper edges of the chains. The pairs of pins on opposite chains are instaggered relation as diagrammatically shown in Figure 8.

Supporting tracks I4 underlie the chains I2 throughout that portion ofthe upper flight of said conveyor extending from the point at which theneedle I0 lays the weft to the point at which the weft is transferred tothe condensing conveyor I5. In the downward travel of the gatheringconveyor II the weighted ends I6 of the pins I3 become tilted byengagement with said tracks, throwing the pins I3 into upright positionandholding them upright while the weights travel supported by saidtracks. The tracks I4 terminate adjacent the condensing conveyor I5, atwhich points the pins automatically tilt back into inoperative position,due to failure of support for the weighted ends I6. While in uprightposition the pins are kept from tilting forwardly by short projectionsor stops II which bear against the tracks I I.

Figure 8 shows that the upper weft I8 is laid in a sinuous pattern aboutthe staggered pairs of pins I3 of the opposite conveyor chain I2,forming the parallel transverse portions I9. In order that theseportions shall be truly parallel, the second pin of a pair on one sideand the first pin of the next pair on the opposite side arerelatively'staggered for a slight distance equal to the thickness of theweft thread.

In the anterior part of the gathering conveyor, the weft, as shown,bridges the open space between the two chains of the conveyor.

In laying the weft upon the gathering conveyor, the end of needle III,as shown in Figure 3, describes an are which in the intermediate rangeof its amplitude sinks below the plane of the chains I2 and at itsextremes it intersects the path of travel of the chains I 2 of therespective chains so as to engage them with the weft yarn.

' As the gathering conveyor is continuously traveling in the directionof the arrow in Figure 8, the needle Ill must while moving transverselyacross the gathering conveyor in either direction, also move diagonallyin the direction of travel of the conveyor so as to overtake the pinwhich is transversely opposite the one last served by the needle, andthe latter must quickly move longitudinally of the gathering conveyor,counter to the direction of travel thereof, in order to bring the yarnabout the next pin on the same side.

This compound needle motion is accomplished through the correlatedmechanism, best shown in detail in Figures 2, 3 and 4, in which the baseof the needle has a universal joint I9 mounted on a fixed support 20.The needle passes through the slot 2I in an oscillating plate 22 havingrollers 23 at its opposite ends riding in the fixedly mounted arcuatetracks 24. The plate 22 is oscillated by a set of cams 25 which bearagainst its opposite sides adjacent the corners, being synchronouslydriven as by the chain 26 which passes around the sprockets 21 on thecam shafts 28, one of which sprockets is driven.

The respective phases of the cams is shown in Figure 4, from which itwill be noted that the plate 22 is held in a fixed inclined positionwith respect to the transverse direction of the gathering conveyor,while the needle is traversing the intermediate portion of the slot 22,but when the needle has reached its extreme portion in the slot theplate is suddenly oscillated to a position of reverse inclination as itrides from the low cam surface 29 to the high cam surface 30' on oneside, and simultaneously from the high cam surface 30, the low camssurface 29 on the opposite side.

The needle is oscillated in the slot.2I by means such as that shown inFigure 3, comprising a crank pin 3| on a driven shaft 32 connected tothe needle I0 near its base by a pitman 33 having an articulation 34 toallow for oscillation of the plate 2|.

Due to the fact that the conveyor chains I2 travel downward at a fastspeed, the inertia of the transverse unsupported portions of the weftthreads causes them to assume an upwardly convex form asdiagrammatically depicted in Figure 9. It is obvious that they must bebrought into a rectilinear condition before being transferred to thecondensing conveyor and to the warp.

This is accomplished by a plurality of spaced parallel supporting-pinchains 35 which enter the gathering conveyor and become a part thereof,between the gathering chains I2 and below the region across which theneedle I0 oscillates. The chains I2. pass about a sprocket 36 into theplane of the gathering pins I3, and in common with the latter chainsthey pass around a driven sprocket 31 at the lower end of the gatheringconveyor so that they travel at the same speed as the gathering chains.

The chains 35 carry pivoted weighted pins 38 which normally assume agravitational position in which they lie below the upper surface of thechains, but which ride upon the supporting tracks 39, being maintainedby said tracks in erect operative position. The supporting tracks 39terminate in the same transverse line as the supporting tracks I4, sothat the pins 38 like the pins I3, swing to inoperative positionadjacent the point of transfer of the upper weft to the condensingconveyor I5.

It has already been explained that the gathering chain pin I3 at theopposite ends of each transverse portion I9 of the weft are staggered adistance equal to the thickness of the weft yarn, this being so that thetransverse weft portions will lie in a true transverse direction. Thepins 38 of the supporting pin chains 35 are so arranged that they alignthemselves with that one of the staggered pins 38 which is higher, withreference to the direction of the anterior end of the gatheringconveyor. This transverse row of spaced pins 38 come up betweensuccessive transverse weft portions and push said portions into truerectilinear transverse position, and maintain them in such positionuntil they are transferred to the condensing conveyor. The upper weftgathering conveyor extends obliquely to the plane of the warp so as toobtain the benefit of gravity in supporting the upper weft.

The condensing conveyor is a transverse series of spaced endless belts40, each having undulating recesses 4| on its outer face, the recessesof all the belts being in the same phase so that each transverse seriesof recesses forms a seat for a transverse weft course. The recesses ofeach of the belts 40 are as closely spaced as the weft courses will liein the fabric and are more closely spaced at the pinsof the gatheringconveyor.

The condensing conveyor |5 travels at the same speed as the warp and inthe direction of travel thereof. It moves slower than the gatheringconveyor. It has a flight 42 parallel with the gathering conveyor,lapping the lower end portion thereof and moving in substantially theplane of the upper face of said conveyor. Thepins I3 and 38 lie downjust before they reach the point of substantial contact of the twoconveyors, and therefore, present no interference to the cooperation ofsaid conveyor. The belts of the condensing conveyor are staggeredbetween the chains of the gathering conveyor. The two conveyors are sojuxtaposed and synchronized that the pins of the gathering conveyorrecedes at a point within'the receptive scope of a transverse series ofthe recesses 4|, transferring one of the transverse weft courses to thecondensing conveyor, and the speed ratios of the two conveyors are suchthat each successive transverse row of pins comes to the transversepoint simultaneously with successive rows of the recesses 4|.

The condensing conveyor I5 also has a flight 43 parallel with theprimary warp and traveling substantially in contact therewith. Thisflight extends toward the cloth beam at least as far as the zone wherethe stitching together of the two wefts takes place. The recesses of thecondensing conveyor throughout this flight 43 are filled with thetransverse weft courses which are .imprisoned in said recesses by theclose proximity of the underlying warp and which travel on the top ofthe warp at the same speed as the warp.

It will be observed that the lower end of the gathering conveyor II,including the side chains and the supporting chain mechanism terminatesabove the plane of the warp, so that there would ordinarily be a region,indicated by the bracket 44 in Figure 5, where the transverse weftcourses would be unsupported and liable to fall out of the recesses ofthe condensing conveyor by gravity. To prevent this, a transverse seriesof keeper belts 45 is provided, said belts lying between the side chainsI2 and supporting chains 35 of the gathering conveyor, and in thevertical planes of the belts 40 of the condensing conveyor.

The keeper belts pass about grooved rolls 46 and 41 so located as tohold the keeper belts against the condensing conveyor belts from thepoint at which the transfer of the transverse weft courses to thecondensing conveyor is made, to a point in the flight 43 of thecondensing conveyor. 1

The keeper belts necessarily pass through the warp below the planethereof, in order to retain the weft courses on the condenser conveyorwhile it passes around the roll I5 within the apex of the angle formedby the intersection of the plane of the flight 42 with that of the warp.The roll 41 is driven and drives the keeper belts at the same speed asthat of the associated condensing conveyor.

The upper part of the active flight of the keeper belts 45 holds thetransverse weft courses which arein the recesses of the lapping portionof the condensing conveyor away from the more rapidly moving chains ofthe gathering conveyor, avoiding friction against the threads, whilethat portion of the keeper belts which bridges .the space between thegathering conveyor and the warp holds the transverse weft courses inplace on the condensing conveyor until they reach the plane of the warpand come under the retaining influence of the warp.

The lower weft The lower Weft 48 is laid, gathered, transferred,condensed and applied to the under side of the warp by means which, ingeneral, are counterparts of the means which perform these severalfunctions in connection with the upper weft. The needle 49, drawing yarnfrom the cop 50 oscillates between the upwardly moving side chains 5| ofthe lower gathering conveyor 52, located beneath the warp, looping theweft yarn about pairs of pivoted pins 53 in a sinuous pattern formingthe transverse courses 54. The lower gathering conveyor, like the uppergathering conveyor, is inclined so as to take advantage of gravity insupporting the weft.

Inasmuch as the lower gathering conveyor 52 is moving upward at a fastspeed, the inertia of the weft yarn would ordinarily cause the middleparts of the transverse courses to sag downwardly, the sag beingaugmented by gravity. The supporting pin chains 55 with the pivotedsupporting pins '56 enter between the gathering chains 5| in the regionof tangency of the sprocket roll 51 to the gathering conveyor and becomea part of the latter, supporting the-transverse Weft courses in trulyrectilinear position. The pins 53 and 56 are held upright by therespective guide tracks 58 and 59 upon which their weighted ends ridethroughout the weft engaging range of travel of said pins. Thesupporting chains 55 are driven by the sprocket roll 60, driving them atthe same speed as the gathering chains 5|.

The lower gathering conveyor comes into weft transferring relation tothe lower condensing conveyor 6| in the same manner as do thecorresponding upper weft conveyors. The condensing conveyor 6| which isstructurally similar to the upper condensing conveyor 40 has a flight 62which laps the upper end of the gathering conveyor, the belts of thecondensing conveyor being staggered with respect to the chains 5| and 55by lying substantially in a common plane. The condensing conveyor alsohas a flight 63 which warp, being driven by the roll 64.

parallels the warp l, contacting the under side thereof and traveling atthe same speed as the The condensing conveyor, therefore, carries theweft coures 54 with the warp. The upper and lower condensing conveyorsare so positioned as to hold the upper and lower weft courses instaggered phase, as shown, and to prevent relative slippage they arepreferably geared to their respective driving rolls by the intermeshinggear connections indicated at 13 in Figure 1.

A keeper belt unit 65 is provided, comprising a plurality of spacedparallel keeper belts 68 moving withthe speed of thecondensing conveyor6|, and being driven by the roll 61. The keeper belts 66 pass betweenthe conveyor chains and lie in the same vertical planes as the belts ofthe condenser conveyor, making contact therewith and imprisoning theweft courses in the recesses 68 of the belts of the condensing conveyor,from the point at which the weft courses are transferred to thecondensing conveyor to the point at which they have been moved into theplane of the diverted portion 6 of the warp. As was the case with thekeeper belts for the upper weft courses, it is true also of the keeperbelts 86, that they must pass through the warp in order to retain theweft courses on the condensing conveyor until they reach the plane ofthe warp. Manifestly, if a portion of the warp were not diverted, thekeeper belts 66 could not pass through the warp l, on account of theposition of the overlying weft and the upper condensing conveyor. Thisaccounts for the necessity for diverting a portion of the warp, asshown, and the diverted warp serves to hold the weft courses to thecondensing conveyor 6| while it is passing over the roll 64 from theplane of the flight 62 to that of the flight 63.

A warp guide beam 61 extends transversely between the 'undiverted andthe diverted warp portions close to their angle of juncture, havingguide grooves 68 and 69, respectively, above and below, engaged by theyams of the respective ;warp' portions, and being relatively staggered.

The upper and lower condensing conveyors travel in common verticalplanes and give each other mutual support.

A gang of suitably operated sewing needles is positioned adjacent theposterior ends of the condensing conveyors. This is preferably dividedinto two banks of needless so as to provide the requisite number ofneedles and at the same time to give suflicient room between theneedles. The anterior bank of needles 10 operates through the upper andlower condensing conveyors between belts thereof .and engages the twowefts between the warp threads of alternate pairs, tying them togetherby progressively enmeshing them in chains of stitching, as shown at I2in Figure 5. This sufiiciently integrates the fabric to hold the weftsin place after they pass from the control of the condensing conveyors.

The posterior gang of needles 11 then similarly stitches together, thetwo wefts between the warp yarns of the alternate pairs skipped by thebank of needles 10. Thus, the wefts are securely tied wise directionwhere the primary warp threads are inelastic, and in which the warpyarns are most freely stretchable when made of elastic material. Theupper and lower tied together wefts are, in fact, an independent fabricstructure freely embracing the primary warp, permitting biaswisestressing in either direction without permanent distortion of thefabric.

It will be understood to those skilled in the art that other spacings ofthe secondary warp than that herein specifically described are withinthe purview of the invention, and that the apparatus herein disclosed ismerely illustrative of any apparatus that can be employed to accomplishthe desired result.

What I claim as my invention is:

1. Method of making a textile fabric comprising providing a primary warpof parallel threads moving toward a stitching station, preformingseparate upper and lower wefts, initially displaced from their fabricposition with respect to the warp, by continuously laying certain weftseach in a serpentine pattern with transverse substantially parallelcourses, the latter being spaced apart farther than they will be in thefinished fabric, condensing said wefts by bringing the transversecourses as close as they will be in the finished fabric, bringing thecondensed wefts into contiguity respectively with the upper and lowersides of said warp, moving them with the warp toward the stitchingstation, and progessively stitching the upper and lower wefts togetherbetween primary warp threads, independently of said primary warpthreads, the rows of stitching constituting a secondary warp.

2. Apparatus for making textile fabric of that type in which a warp isoverlaid and under-laid by separate wefts stitched together between thewarp without involving the warp in the stitching, comprising a gang ofsewing needles positioned to determine a sewing station in operativerelation to a warp movable past said station, upper and lower gatheringconveyors on opposite sides of said warp movable toward said warp andsaid sewing station, means for continuously laying separate wefts uponsaid gathering conveyors in serpentine pattern including transversecourses spaced wider than they will be in the fabric, said gatheringconveyor having means for holding said wefts in position, condensingconveyors above and beneath said warp and between said gatheringconveyors and. said sewing station having a portion of each in operativeproximity to the respective gathering conveyors, said gathering andcondensing conveyors being so cooperably related as to effect thetransfer of the wefts from the gathering conveyors to the condensingconveyors, means for moving said condensing conveyors at aslower speedthan said gathering conveyors and at the same speed as said warp, in thedirection of movement of said warp, said condensing conveyors havingseats for the transverse rows of the wefts, spaced as closely as theweft will be in the fabric, said condensing conveyors having parallelflights substantially contacting the warp on opposite sides thereof to apoint at least as far as said sewing' station, whereby the transversecourses in said seats are held to said warp and carried therewith tosaid sewing station, said needles operating between threads of themoving. warp to progressively stitch said upper and lower weftstogether.

3. Apparatus as claimed in claim 2, said holding means comprisingretractable pins, normally extended throughout the weft holding lengthof said gathering conveyor and with-' drawing below the plane of theweft at the points of transfer, progressively freeing the weft coursesat said points of transfer, the condensing conveyors being sosynchronized with the gathering conveyors that the successive weft seatsof the former engulf and capture the successively freed weft courses,efiecting their transfer.

4. Apparatus as claimed in claim 2, including keeper means closelyconforming to the contour of the condensing conveyors between the pointsof transfer of the weft courses to said condensing conveyors, and thepoints at which said condensing conveyors begin to parallel the plane ofthe warp. 1

5. Apparatus as claimed in claim 2, said holdallel the plane of the ingmeans comprising retractable pins normally extended throughout the weftholding length of said gathering conveyors, and withdrawing below theplane of the weft at the points of transfer progressively freeing theweft courses at said points of transfer, the condensing conveyors beingso synchronized with the gathering conveyors that successive weft seatsof the former engulf and capture the successively freed weft courses,effecting their transfer, said apparatus including keeper means closelyconforming to the contour of the condensing conveyors between the pointsof transfer of the weft courses to said condensing conveyors, and thepoints at which said condensing conveyors begin to parwarp.

CLAlR H. GINGHER. I

